Interchangeable heel



March 12,1935.

E. CHRISTENSEN 1,994,013

INTERCHANGEABLE HEEL Filed Oct. 25, 1953" Fig. 1

av WQ j HTTORNEY [NYE/V701? EM/L CHIP/Sif/VSE/V Patented Mar. 12, 1935'UN D PATENT, oFrrcE 2 Claims.

5 metal fastening on the wearing surface thereof, J

since such protruding metal surfaces areprone to scratch floors and thelike. Another object I of my invention is to provide a heel of thecharacter indicated that may be readily replaced such replacement. Thethirdobject of my invention is to provide a heel that is interchangeablebetween the right and left shoe of a pair, and

equalized by changing from one shoe to another, of a pair, aftersomewear has taken place. A further object of my invention is to provide aheel of the character described in which the wearing portion at theextreme rear of the heel is substantially thicker than the balance ofthe heel to provide for the excess wear commonly found at this point.These and other objects that will be apparent from the followingspecification constitute the purpose of my present invention.

To accomplish these purposes, I make my new interchangeable heel in twopieces, one of which is permanently attached to the sole of a shoe inthe proper place and which may be conveniently referred to as the.anchor. The other is arranged to lock firmly to the anchor and will behereinafter referred to as the heel. My invention is illustrated'in' theaccompanying drawing, in-which,--

Fig. I is a plan view of the anchor; V Fig. II is a longitudinalsectionof Fig. I on the line II-II;

. Fig. III is a cross-section of Fig. I on the line IIIIII;

Fig. IV is a plan view of .Fig. VI showing the heel;

Fig. V is an elevation of Fig. IV in projection;

and

Fig. VI shows a portion of a shoe in dotted outline, with both theanchor of the heel in place thereon, shown in longitudinal section infull lines, and, in dotted outline, an indication of how the heel isattached to the anchor. The anchor will be designated by'the mime-m1 8and the heel by the numeral 9. They areboth preferably manufactured frommoulded vulcanvulcanized somewhat harder than the heel, the

without the employment of a skilled artisan for therefore provides thatthe wear," ordinarily un,-' equal at the extreme rear of the heel, maybe.

difference in quality being indicated by the difference in the sectionlines shown in the draw- The anchor is provided with an internallythreaded opening, 10, and the heel is provided 5 with an externallythreaded projection, 11. These are so proportioned and designed thatwhen the heel is applied reversely to the anchor, that is with the rearend forward, the two threaded portions, 10 and 11, will engage and. ahalf turn of the heel with respect to the anchor will bring the twoparts together as .shown in Fig. VI, the rear'end' being sprungoutwardly, permitted by its resilient, qualities, as shown at 8a, andwhen the thread is completely home, the rear end portion represented by8a will be released and will spring straight, as shown in Fig. V, andinterlock with the anchor to prevent movement relative thereto unless itis purposely accomplished by springing the portion So back again to theposition shown in Fig. VI, when it can be removed by reversingtheoperation described for attaching it. The anchor 8 is provided with anoffset upwardly stepped portion 12 and the. heel, 9, is provided with acorrespondingly shaped upward projecting portion 81) to engage therewithand an interlocking lug 13 on the anchor engages witha recess, 14,moulded in the heel.

I do not wish to limit myself to the threaded means as shown forattaching the two partstogether since a bayonet joint or an. interruptedthread may be substituted, though I prefer the construction as shown.Also different forms of the locking device here represented by 13 and 14may be substituted. 35

To use, the anchor will'be firmly, attached to the shoe by fasteningssuch as diagrammatically indicated at 14', passing through holes such as15 moulded in the anchor, and this part may be considered permanent aslong as the shoe lasts.

From time to time, as the heels wear, they may be quickly and easilyrenewed without the use of any tool and/0r they may be interchanged fromright to left if the wear, as is customary, wears off the outside rearportion of the heel. By so changing them, an increase in lastingqualities will be apparent. 7

It is a well known fact that the rubber heel of commerce is described asworn out when say of its original structure is as good as new. With mynew interchangeable heel the wearing portion, and substantially thatonly, is affected by wear and it can be removed and replacedwithout theemployment of a skilled artisan in a few seconds of time to completelyrenew the wearing surface of the heel.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention so that those familiar with theart to which it appertains can make and use it, what I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an interchangeable heel device for footwear, an anchor portionadapted to be permanently attached to a shoe, an internally threadedopening centrally disposed therein, an upwardly stepped portionrearwardly of the said opening, a lug extending partly across saidstepped portion and a matching removable wearing surface of resilientmaterial that is adapted to be screwed into and out of the recess andresiliently sprung over and locked with said lug and said upwardlystepped portion.

2. A two-piece interchangeable heel for footwear comprising incombination an anchor portion adapted to be permanently attached to ashoe, a centrally disposed threaded opening in said anchor portion, anupwardly offset surface rearwardly of said opening, a locking lugextending partly across said ofiset surface and a removable wearingportion provided with matching surfaces that is adapted to screw intosaid recess and spring to locking position over the said ofiset.

EMIL CHRISTENSEN.

